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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Still working on the playroom I came up with something we could put on the wall on the opposite side of the couch from the PLAY sign. I thought of doing a sign with the mileage information to some of our family members homes.

First I went to search through the scrap wood pile in the garage for some pieces to use for the sign.

I thought I would attach it all to a wooden post, but then Rob suggested we just paint a fake post onto the wall to not worry about screwing it all into the wall, and pushing off the wall even farther.

I used my Silhouettte Cameo machine and chose a few various fonts to create the wording. I used Google Maps to get general mileage information, and then cut out the wording on black vinyl.

We had some leftover Sherwin Williams Anonymous Gray paint to use on them. I painted them after a light sanding and Rob cutting pointed ends on the pieces.

It only took one coat to cover the pieces and once they were dry I applied the vinyl lettering using the Silhouette transfer paper. I ended up putting two locations on one piece of wood after Rob suggested doing this, and then I took off the -'s for the locations to fit them all on together.

I taped off a line with Frog Tape on the wall, and Rob used some leftover trim paint to paint a white post. Then he nailed in the three signs at random angles.

We included the grandparents and various other special people to the kids. Wynn offered the idea of Disney World the other day, and so I included that as well.

Hope you enjoyed this idea, and thanks so much for stopping by our blog.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

We are continuing to make progress on the playroom. I am so glad Rob tackled the major parts of it before I was in the final trimester with baby #4. I am starting to slow down with the projects on my end, but my to do list seems to just get longer and longer.

I picked up some wooden letters that spell out the word PLAY for the wall behind the couch.

I picked up some wooden letters that spell out the word PLAY for the wall behind the couch.

Rob asked a fellow teacher if he had any maps he was not using anymore in his class. He gave us several and they turned out to work perfectly. Plus, we have a few more for other projects in our future. I had picked up a large canvas from Home Goods, and hung it on the wall. Then I received some pillows I'll share below, and decided that a "transportation" themed playroom would be a fun choice. Then I was able to get some direction....literally.

I took the maps and cut them out around the letters leaving a little bit of room for trimming later. Then I put some Mod Podge on the letters and put them face down on the map itself. Then I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef scrapper to help get out all the bubbles and wrinkles. I sealed the top of each letter with another coat of Mod Podge the next day. Then gave it another day to fully dry.

Then Rob trimmed around the edges with an exacto knife. We placed hanging pieces on the back of edge letter to hang them on the wall.

I took the two blue pillows on the couch from the bed in the boys room. I purchased them from The Pillow People on Etsy two years ago. I purchased the yellow pillow covers off of Amazon to cover the pillows the couch we bought of CL originally came with. The license plate pillows were a clearance find by my best friend, and she picked them up for me a few weeks ago and said they could be a Mother's Day present. What a great friend! Plus she helped me figure out that I could go with a transportation theme when I paired them with the canvas I bought earlier.

I wanted to hang up some of the recent pictures of the kiddos done by my friend Michelle at Michelle Albright Photography. I found these great white frames from Target for approximately $20 a piece. I ordered size 11 x 14 photos for the 8 x 10 spaces, and their little faces fit great. I did not want them to look too small. The fourth frame is obviously blank for Baby Boy Vaughn coming in August.Next up I will be sharing our DIY chalkboard project that is directly across the room from this couch. Our daughter has definitely enjoyed it so far, and has already given everyone their own designated space on the board. We will see if everyone follows instructions soon enough.Other Playroom Posts:Playroom Part #1 - Blank Space into a RoomPlayroom Part #2 - Doors, Trim and Painted StairsPlayroom #3 - projector

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Now that the weather has really heated up around here I've been searching for some cooling off activities that all the kids will like. I saw this adorable idea on Buggy and Buddy.

I purchased the following items from either Lowes or Jo-Ann Fabrics: 1 package of craft foam sheetsWooden DowelsHooksMagnetsThe total out of pocket expense for this project was around $12. You can purchase sheets of foam on clearance right now at Jo-Ann Fabrics for $0.50 a piece.

I had paper clips, a sharpie, rope and a glue gun already on hand in my home. The first step was to cut out the fish shape in various colors of craft foam. Then I had Wynn write numbers on each of the fish. She is just learning to write the numbers past ten, and so I thought this was good practice for her. Then we slipped a paper clip on each of the fish.

Rob took a small drill bit and drilled a small hole in the top of the dowel. It made it easier to insert the screw eye hooks to the top of the dowel.

Cut a piece of rope or string about half the length of the dowel itself. The tie it to the top of the dowel through the eye hook.

Use a hot glue gun to attach the magnet to the end of the rope. Then the rod is complete. You could even let the children decorate their fishing rod with markers or stickers. Wynn is still working on forward facing threes. :)

Place the fish in a water table or plastic tub if you have that instead. I let the kids fish together at first, and then Wynn had her own fishing experience later on. They all had fun with this activity. Wynn just called out numbers, and the one year olds just simple fished and called out colors.

I was so happy that we found another way to use the water table this summer. Looking forward to finding or creating some new fishing activities.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Mother's Day is quickly approaching. Here are some simple ideas I have shared over the years that would work perfectly for this spring holiday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating a special someone in your life. We are celebrating both Mother's Day and Rob's birthday this weekend, and so we are celebrating times two.